Good day, I just stumbled across this very useful discussion thread. I was wondering if someone could critic my custom plan. Your feedback is very welcome.. This is approx 370sqm (alfresco, balcony, porch excluded) house sitting on 560sqm of land in the Hills Shire, Sydney. There are two options for first floor plan. Please suggest which one is better and why ? Thank you so much for your valuable time and opinion in advance.
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Browse Forums Building A New House  01 Sep 2015 26 NSW Junior Member 14 Aug 2016 40 gold coast Junior Member Re: Custom Design floor plan thread post them here!! 2182Feb 04, 2017 9:13 pm hi sm_boxhill, first thing that jumps out at me is the laundry. if possible you should always try to get the washing machine directly next to the laundry tub, to allow for plumbing to directly feed into the washing machine. the current configuration looks like it might be a bit tricky to get it to work. i like the second option better for the first floor. the double height void would work well above the entry space downstairs, as opposed to the void over the lounge room (would be trickier to use functionally, eg. lighting, cooling/heating, etc.). in the second option, i'd look at reconfiguring the bathroom slightly. i'd flip the door & the shower, as currently it creates a bit of a narrow gap between the shower & vanity. in terms of designing to the best orientation, the downstairs works very well. only negative upstairs would be the main bedroom being on the southern side. 01 Sep 2015 26 NSW Junior Member Re: Custom Design floor plan thread post them here!! 2183Feb 04, 2017 9:50 pm  innerbloomhi sm_boxhill, first thing that jumps out at me is the laundry. if possible you should always try to get the washing machine directly next to the laundry tub, to allow for plumbing to directly feed into the washing machine. the current configuration looks like it might be a bit tricky to get it to work. i like the second option better for the first floor. the double height void would work well above the entry space downstairs, as opposed to the void over the lounge room (would be trickier to use functionally, eg. lighting, cooling/heating, etc.). in the second option, i'd look at reconfiguring the bathroom slightly. i'd flip the door & the shower, as currently it creates a bit of a narrow gap between the shower & vanity. in terms of designing to the best orientation, the downstairs works very well. only negative upstairs would be the main bedroom being on the southern side. Thank you, innerbloom.. Much appreciated for your valuable opinions. Based on your feedback, I will ask my draftsman to change following - Swap door and washing machine location. Door for laundry would open from hallway - Definitely swap door and shower in upstairs bathroom. - Will review master bedroom position to see whether it can be moved from south location to elsewhere ? Any thoughts on how it will look balustrade from foyer. I am having difficulty in visualizing foyer and balustrade which goes as back as almost half of the stairs .. My drafsman said that pillar is required on ground floor around stair step# 6 or 7 to hold weight of TV Room floor. The other option I was thinking is to reduce size of foyer and match it up-to length of prayer room so structural requirements may be fulfilled - see these two options - appreciate your thoughts. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ 29 Apr 2016 371 ACT Gold Member Re: Custom Design floor plan thread post them here!! 2184Feb 04, 2017 10:17 pm Option 2 is structurally easier and cleaner, but runs the risk of the bad "vertical tunnel" effect of poorly-planned void spaces. Not that I'm convinced that option 1 avoids that entirely either, though. The first question I'd ask is why exactly do you want a void? Your specific and personal reasons for wanting a void will inform what the best solution is for you. A master bedroom on the south can be perfectly okay too - it depends on what your personal preferences are. Do you like a cool, shady bedroom, or do you prefer a warm, well-lit one? It might also depend on how you use it - is it purely a sleeping space, or would it also be used as a retreat? 01 Sep 2015 26 NSW Junior Member Re: Custom Design floor plan thread post them here!! 2185Feb 04, 2017 10:34 pm algernonOption 2 is structurally easier and cleaner, but runs the risk of the bad "vertical tunnel" effect of poorly-planned void spaces. Not that I'm convinced that option 1 avoids that entirely either, though. The first question I'd ask is why exactly do you want a void? Your specific and personal reasons for wanting a void will inform what the best solution is for you. A master bedroom on the south can be perfectly okay too - it depends on what your personal preferences are. Do you like a cool, shady bedroom, or do you prefer a warm, well-lit one? It might also depend on how you use it - is it purely a sleeping space, or would it also be used as a retreat? Thank you, algernon .. Certainly appreciate your inputs. This will be to be our first home, we needed a little 'wow' factor without spending too much money. Also, needed well-lit entrance and following facade which has high pillars in porch. I mainly use master bedroom to sleep. I have allowed balcony off main bedroom, just in case if I like to relax a bit. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ 24 May 2016 407 QLD Gold Member Re: Custom Design floor plan thread post them here!! 2186Feb 05, 2017 8:24 am My only concern would be that be you have reasonably big bedrooms but have really small bathrooms. I would consider adding some space in the bathrooms. 29 Apr 2016 371 ACT Gold Member Re: Custom Design floor plan thread post them here!! 2187Feb 05, 2017 10:49 am If you're going for 'wow' factor then you'd be after the biggest entry void that you can fit, noting that the required structural complexity is going to cost extra. Small, simple voids can be cheap - but they don't provide much 'wow' (and can even look worse than no void at all). 'Wow-some' voids will end up adding a lot more to your costs (you are, quite literally, adding extra structure that contains nothing) - so you should factor that into your planning, too. More specifically, the particular staircase layout and placement that you have doesn't lend itself well to a spectacular void space.. If you really want that a spectacular entry void, my suggestion is to do that first and then design the rest of the house around it. On a blank floorplan, place the void at your entry first on the floor plan of both levels, and don't have the upper floor 'projecting' into the void space (unless you also plan for pillars and/or structural steel). Next run the staircase up/around the sides of that void. Finally, fill in the rest of the house around that. I hope that makes sense. Your energy efficiency will be reduced and you'll have higher running costs, but that's the price of voids. Make sure that you're also aware of the significant price differential between open and closed staircases (side timber vs central steel stringers) to factor into your design as well. Taking a step back, though, if this is your first house there's a number of potential other issues I can see with the design. As Craigasaurus pointed out, your bedrooms are quite large - what's the living pattern that you're aiming for here? Younger kids, older kids, how many? Do you want people to stay in their bedrooms all the time, or do you want to encourage greater use of communal space? More generally, it's a very large house for a first timer - do you really need all that space? Do you have a clear plan as to how it's all going to be utilised? Where is your furniture going to placed? I can see a risk of ending up with a lot of poorly-utilised space if you're not careful - just make sure you have a clear idea of exactly what you're going to do with all those spaces before you finalise your design. 01 Sep 2015 26 NSW Junior Member Re: Custom Design floor plan thread post them here!! 2188Feb 05, 2017 11:33 pm CraigasaurusMy only concern would be that be you have reasonably big bedrooms but have really small bathrooms. I would consider adding some space in the bathrooms. Point noted ... Thank you so much. Surely, I wasn't thinking straight. For me personally, i thought why to have bigger bathrooms. Unlike me for many people it's a kind of place where one can relax in long bath etc etc. Having relatively bigger bathrooms may appeal for resale value. I am going to steal some space from Bed1, 2,3 to make bathrooms and ensuite bigger. 01 Sep 2015 26 NSW Junior Member Re: Custom Design floor plan thread post them here!! 2189Feb 06, 2017 12:06 am algernonIf you're going for 'wow' factor then you'd be after the biggest entry void that you can fit, noting that the required structural complexity is going to cost extra. Small, simple voids can be cheap - but they don't provide much 'wow' (and can even look worse than no void at all). 'Wow-some' voids will end up adding a lot more to your costs (you are, quite literally, adding extra structure that contains nothing) - so you should factor that into your planning, too. More specifically, the particular staircase layout and placement that you have doesn't lend itself well to a spectacular void space.. If you really want that a spectacular entry void, my suggestion is to do that first and then design the rest of the house around it. On a blank floorplan, place the void at your entry first on the floor plan of both levels, and don't have the upper floor 'projecting' into the void space (unless you also plan for pillars and/or structural steel). Next run the staircase up/around the sides of that void. Finally, fill in the rest of the house around that. I hope that makes sense. Your energy efficiency will be reduced and you'll have higher running costs, but that's the price of voids. Make sure that you're also aware of the significant price differential between open and closed staircases (side timber vs central steel stringers) to factor into your design as well. Taking a step back, though, if this is your first house there's a number of potential other issues I can see with the design. As Craigasaurus pointed out, your bedrooms are quite large - what's the living pattern that you're aiming for here? Younger kids, older kids, how many? Do you want people to stay in their bedrooms all the time, or do you want to encourage greater use of communal space? More generally, it's a very large house for a first timer - do you really need all that space? Do you have a clear plan as to how it's all going to be utilised? Where is your furniture going to placed? I can see a risk of ending up with a lot of poorly-utilised space if you're not careful - just make sure you have a clear idea of exactly what you're going to do with all those spaces before you finalise your design. Thank for your detailed feedback. It has certainly stimulated my brain in relation to how void need to be designed for 'wow' factor. I will sit down with my drafsman to see how it can be fitted. My builder gave me heads up that void will going to cost me extra $$$, so i am kind of prepared and factored into budget. In relation to family situation, we are young family ... daughter turning 7 and there will be a new arrival.. my parents are staying with me, so they will occupy bedroom downstairs ... I agree with you that house is somewhat bigger than i expected and getting little out of our set budget .. i am trying to reduce about 35sqm from 370sqm too from this design so that i can finish turnkey home within $500k budget. I am thinking to make lounge little smaller .. reduce garage size, kitchen, pantry and laundry. Also hallway is 1610mm .. do you see if i can trim to 1400mm, will it look ugly ? In relation to furniture arrangements and window position, i have something in mind as follow... sorry drawing is little messy, hope you get an idea. Do you see any blunder or any scope for improvements ? Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Custom Design floor plan thread post them here!! 2190Feb 06, 2017 12:13 am Oh man, I wish I found this thread earlier. Any comments on my custom house plan would be greatly appreciated. We are about to continue to Full Working Drawings, so if we discover any major issues with the design we might want to revise it first. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Thanks in advance! Re: Custom Design floor plan thread post them here!! 2191Feb 06, 2017 4:48 am My first questions is which way is north? I also don't think the 'office' area would be very private. It is also huge. I would consider making this space a family/ media room and getting rid of the rumpus and theatre rooms. I would have the office next to the front door where Bed 3 is and then shuffle everything along. hope this helps! Re: Custom Design floor plan thread post them here!! 2192Feb 06, 2017 9:37 am  architect_yourselfMy first questions is which way is north? I also don't think the 'office' area would be very private. It is also huge. I would consider making this space a family/ media room and getting rid of the rumpus and theatre rooms. I would have the office next to the front door where Bed 3 is and then shuffle everything along. hope this helps! Thanks!  North is left, sorry. We're fine with the office being open - this is an area for my partner who works from home. Would rather it be nice and open than claustrophobic. It's quite large because he will have his computer desk, a workbench, a tools cabinet, a tv, etc. (He does mostly graphic design, but also builds computers/tech). Sort of an open man-cave in a sense. Could potentially put a bar in there too. We are both gamers, so he will have his setup in the office. Mine will be in theatre. The open living/dining is for when we are hosting more people rather than being cramped in the theatre. We also like the idea of opening the alfresco doors and it sort of being one long room almost. The rumpus room is more of a kids retreat. I also work from home a fair bit, so my office is the one in the hallway. I don't need anything extravagant, hence the nook. But its in a space where I can easily reach the kitchen if I'm multi-tasking (hehe) or hear the front door, and keep an eye on future kids (I understand this could be noisy, but kids could always play in the theatre if I need to focus on work). Definitely love the feedback though. If there is any other concerns you can think of, would love to hear them! Re: Custom Design floor plan thread post them here!! 2193Feb 06, 2017 9:41 am OK fair enough I suppose. With north being to the left that would mean that all of the bedrooms are west-facing then? This is not ideal as they will get the hot, late afternoon sun and likely to be unbearable during the summer (so you will be running an air conditioner in there a lot) How would it work if you flipped the plan so that they faced east (and got morning sun) instead? Re: Custom Design floor plan thread post them here!! 2194Feb 06, 2017 1:38 pm architect_yourselfOK fair enough I suppose. With north being to the left that would mean that all of the bedrooms are west-facing then? This is not ideal as they will get the hot, late afternoon sun and likely to be unbearable during the summer (so you will be running an air conditioner in there a lot) How would it work if you flipped the plan so that they faced east (and got morning sun) instead? That's correct, yes. Our land is quite small, and the garage is essentially on zero boundary - which can't be applied to the other side. So I think that kind of sets most things in place. We could try and rearrange everything, to put bedrooms over the other-side but I think it will sacrifice a lot of the layout that we love - the butler pantry attached to garage and then in turn the kitchen/living/alfresco/office flow-through. Do you think there are any other issues with our room placements? Any other suggestions or tweaks for doors/windows etc? The rental house we are in at the moment gets morning sun beaming on our bedroom and we absolutely hate it! I suppose we probably won't spend much time in bedrooms other than sleeping, so by night it should be cooler. We love to sleep in, hence hating the morning sun  The theatre/kids retreat getting afternoon sun could be a concern - though the kids retreat is more open. We will have ducted air, so I guess it will get a lot of use Very much appreciate all the thoughts and comments! Would hate it if there was something I hadn't considered. Re: Custom Design floor plan thread post them here!! 2195Feb 06, 2017 1:54 pm I keep thinking about the bedroom placements and the morning/afternoon sun. Trying to decide if I agree with the logic behind it. Obviously experts know what they're talking about - but it doesn't make sense in my mind. The sun has usually set by the time we go to bed and even though the room has had the afternoon sun, it shouldn't be too hot by night... right? Keep doors and windows open to get a flow through of air, wouldn't be too bad? But in the morning, the sun is usually up by the time you get out of bed - so you spend a couple of hours with the morning sun heating up the room. And that would annoy me.. it DOES annoy me. I dunno, am I just crazy? Re: Custom Design floor plan thread post them here!! 2196Feb 06, 2017 1:56 pm Heres a good link that might help: http://www.yourhome.gov.au/passive-design/orientation Re: Custom Design floor plan thread post them here!! 2197Feb 06, 2017 1:58 pm architect_yourselfHeres a good link that might help: http://www.yourhome.gov.au/passive-design/orientation Thanks! I will have a good read of it later tonight. Back to work for me!29 Apr 2016 371 ACT Gold Member Re: Custom Design floor plan thread post them here!! 2198Feb 06, 2017 4:08 pm To summarise the relevant parts for your questions: it's not just about direct sunshine, it's also about ambient temperature and thermal inertia. Ambient temperature is significant because it changes the effects of direct sunlight - in the morning, temperatures are lower, and extra heat from direct sunlight (from the east) is more easily dealt with. In the afternoon, temperatures are higher, and the extra heat from direct sunlight (from the west) is then thrown directly on top of that - making things even hotter, at exactly the worst time of day to be hot. And the reason that temperatures in the morning are lower than in the evening is due to thermal inertia - when temperatures change in response to sunlight, they don't do so instantly. Objects (like walls and rooms) that are exposed to direct sunlight don't fully heat up instantly - they take time to heat up. They also don't cool down instantly, either - they stay warm for a while, slowly radiating heat (and heating up everything else around them). A westerly wall, heated to a high temperature by the afternoon sun, will continue to radiate heat into the house for many hours after the sun has gone down (including when you're trying to sleep). An easterly wall in the morning will heat up, but not as much because of lower ambient temperature, and will then lose much of that heat during the day (when it doesn't really matter much) and be back to 'normal' by the evening. That's why a westerly bedroom will be hotter at night than an identical easterly bedroom. I fully understand hating the easterly morning light - but it's a lot easier to keep light out in the morning (with blackout blinds or shutters) than it is to keep heat out in the evening (with expensive awnings and insulation and a huge electricity bill). 24 May 2016 407 QLD Gold Member Re: Custom Design floor plan thread post them here!! 2199Feb 06, 2017 6:04 pm sm_boxhill algernonIf you're going for 'wow' factor then you'd be after the biggest entry void that you can fit, noting that the required structural complexity is going to cost extra. Small, simple voids can be cheap - but they don't provide much 'wow' (and can even look worse than no void at all). 'Wow-some' voids will end up adding a lot more to your costs (you are, quite literally, adding extra structure that contains nothing) - so you should factor that into your planning, too. More specifically, the particular staircase layout and placement that you have doesn't lend itself well to a spectacular void space.. If you really want that a spectacular entry void, my suggestion is to do that first and then design the rest of the house around it. On a blank floorplan, place the void at your entry first on the floor plan of both levels, and don't have the upper floor 'projecting' into the void space (unless you also plan for pillars and/or structural steel). Next run the staircase up/around the sides of that void. Finally, fill in the rest of the house around that. I hope that makes sense. Your energy efficiency will be reduced and you'll have higher running costs, but that's the price of voids. Make sure that you're also aware of the significant price differential between open and closed staircases (side timber vs central steel stringers) to factor into your design as well. Taking a step back, though, if this is your first house there's a number of potential other issues I can see with the design. As Craigasaurus pointed out, your bedrooms are quite large - what's the living pattern that you're aiming for here? Younger kids, older kids, how many? Do you want people to stay in their bedrooms all the time, or do you want to encourage greater use of communal space? More generally, it's a very large house for a first timer - do you really need all that space? Do you have a clear plan as to how it's all going to be utilised? Where is your furniture going to placed? I can see a risk of ending up with a lot of poorly-utilised space if you're not careful - just make sure you have a clear idea of exactly what you're going to do with all those spaces before you finalise your design. Thank for your detailed feedback. It has certainly stimulated my brain in relation to how void need to be designed for 'wow' factor. I will sit down with my drafsman to see how it can be fitted. My builder gave me heads up that void will going to cost me extra $$$, so i am kind of prepared and factored into budget. In relation to family situation, we are young family ... daughter turning 7 and there will be a new arrival.. my parents are staying with me, so they will occupy bedroom downstairs ... I agree with you that house is somewhat bigger than i expected and getting little out of our set budget .. i am trying to reduce about 35sqm from 370sqm too from this design so that i can finish turnkey home within $500k budget. I am thinking to make lounge little smaller .. reduce garage size, kitchen, pantry and laundry. Also hallway is 1610mm .. do you see if i can trim to 1400mm, will it look ugly ? In relation to furniture arrangements and window position, i have something in mind as follow... sorry drawing is little messy, hope you get an idea. Do you see any blunder or any scope for improvements ? Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The only little thing I would consider is removing the 720 laundry door and putting in a sliding door in the hallway to make a walk through laundry instead of boxing it in so much. 24 May 2016 407 QLD Gold Member Re: Custom Design floor plan thread post them here!! 2200Feb 06, 2017 6:20 pm  staceyrussellOh man, I wish I found this thread earlier. Any comments on my custom house plan would be greatly appreciated. We are about to continue to Full Working Drawings, so if we discover any major issues with the design we might want to revise it first. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Thanks in advance! Hi I quite like your design. The few things I see is the garage has a lot of doors. You'll need small cars to be able to access them all easily. I would consider switching the laundry and pantry so that the laundry can go straight outside. And have access to fresh air. I would also look at moving the fridge more into the kitchen as it looks a little disconnected. Hi Mofflepop, I would recommend finding a building designer to prepare plans, they should design to your specified budget. The benefit is you can tender the project out… 9 60287  ideal house depends on the site and location as much as internal floor plan....what is the distance from the house to all four boundaries, where is north, describe your… 3 38796 having built in different rural locations may i suggest that the house should suit the location and needs to be different from homes in town..eg if you will be working… 9 22899 |
